Assateague Island National Seashore (Aug 17, 2020) … There’s some exciting news coming from the Maryland OSV! The first of three federally protected Loggerhead Sea Turtle nests is due to hatch in the very near future! Now that hatching is imminent, a short-term beach closure will be installed at Km 20.5 and the bullpen will be temporarily moved to Km 18, to go into effect on Wednesday August 19th at 10:00 am. The purpose of the full beach closure is to reduce tire ruts, eliminate the risk of driving impacts to the tiny hatchlings, and minimize light pollution near the nest site.
Hatchlings are very sensitive to light sources at night, such as vehicle headlights and beach fires. They can become disoriented enough that they exhaust their limited energy resources crawling in the wrong direction. Disorientation can also occur when they don’t have smooth access to the ocean and get caught in tire ruts. In either situation, they may never reach the ocean.
The temporary OSV closure will be removed after a final excavation confirms that all viable eggs have hatched. The closure is expected to last no more than 1-2 weeks.